Morning - it's still blustery and cold here this morning. We lost our electricity for a short time last night. At least I was warm and cozy in my bed. We have gas heat, but of course the thermostat/computer regulation is electric! And with this wind we can't use our wood stove without smoking up the house. Thankfully it was back on this morning.
Jessica - sure you can come! We've rented a 2 bedroom house, and have another couple joining us for about 1/3 of the time. They'll have their own car so while we'll do some things together, we're not committed to spending all our time together.
Our retirement plan has been to keep living here most of the year, and spending 4-6 weeks in winter in a warmer place. We decided to start with Hawaii as we could see how we do together so much away from home, while not also dealing with a different culture/language! We have a long list of places we'd like to go in the future. We rented a house so we could "live" there rather than be in a hotel and eating out most of the time.
I'm hoping to clear most of the turkey out of my fridge today. I'm making a couple of casseroles and will freeze one, and also some soup. THere is only one piece of pie left (I didn't eat any!) and the veggies and stuffing are about gone as well. I'm thinking we may have something other than turkey for Christmas dinner - something that doesn't hang around so long!
Pat-- that sounds like a good retirement plan but I'd never make it in the cold weather!
I need a new mantra-- no more second helpings even if they are healthy! I had a second helping of beans/asparagus last night and I wasn't hungry. Afterward I was stuffed and the scale thanked me up a pound today (some sodium I'm sure). When will I ever learn!? I went to the gym after dinner and was quite sluggish which I'm sure was due to my full tummy!
I'm in a good mood today though. I think it is primarily due to dh's last trip of the year most likely being canceled. He was going to Brazil and they are having riots there. It looks like his company is blocking travel to Brazil for now so I hope they keep that in place and he doesn't have to go.
I worked WW on Sunday and it was the unveiling of our new plan. It was crazy busy as we had a lot of members that wanted to hear about the new plan but weren't our "normal" Sunday members. I work tonight too so I'm very curious if we will be swamped again or if most people came to a Sunday or Monday meeting. I'll be sure to ramp up on the caffeine before I go!
How is it I can make dogs insanely happy, yet never seem to make a dent in DH's foul moods?
Javier (11 mo. old golden retriever) has been off the leash for 2 days now and he's so happy it's contagious to everyone on the beach. I walked all day in pouring rain and didn't care because of how happy I've made him.
Ditto my senior lab girl Solo - she and I were all alone on the beach and she started running and barking! She hasn't done that in over a year. I ran too, yelling happily as we went.
Yet I talked to DH on the phone tonite for 2 minutes and he immediately started complaining. And kept complaining until I told him I had to go.
Maybe I should scratch his ears and give him a cookie?
I'm having frozen pizza for dinner and then going back out in the rain to walk the two new girls. They were totally nuts today - no walk this morning from their people.
Last night it dipped down to 23 degrees - in southern Arizona!! And would you believe, our heat wouldn't work. I curled up in bed with an electric blanket and a space heater. Worked great until I had to use the bathroom - brr!
Jessica, that's so nice to be appreciated at work =)
Michele, ditto for me on the "no second helpings" mantra. I made a delicious recipe for kung pao chicken from Cooking Light for dinner which was all dandy until two of us ate the whole dish - which was supposed to serve 4.
Dagmar, I think dogs can be easier to live with than people! I love hearing your dog stories and hopefully your DH will perk up soon... sometimes people tend to lash out at those closest to them (I know sometimes my mom and BF have been unnecessarily made the victims of my bad moods).
Today I remembered again how desperately I want a dog. It's probably a bad idea right now, since I'm hoping to move across the country within a year... but a coworker is fostering two abandoned dogs and they are just wonderful. BF is not keen on the idea because they are lab/pit bull mixes - he's got a bit of prejudice against pits. Admittedly TWO dogs is too much for me and I'd hate to break them up or bring them home only to confuse them by moving them to yet another strange location in a few months.
Iris - Kung Pao from Cooking Light? Cool - I need to look that up. I know the feeling on the seconds thing - my 'serves 4 dish' often end up serving 2. 23 degrees in Southern Arizona? Wow.
Michele - glad that DH isn't going to Brazil in the riots.
Dagmar - people are so much more complicated than dogs and cats. I am glad that the dogs are happy though.
I got a cavity filled this morning and half of my mouth is still numb. And oddly, my ear on the opposite side. Weird.
Iris, I often have to take cooking light portions with a grain of salt. Depending on how the recipe is set up, a recipe that says it serves 4 will either give me 2 or 3 actual servings (well, a little bit unequal since DH eats about twice as much as me). A lot of the time they're intended to be eaten along with other things, so like one serving of the main course assumes you're also eating a salad or side. I typically just make the one dish. Was that the new kung pao chicken recipe that was in last month's (or the month before's) issue? I haven't tried that one yet but I like the one from a few years ago (here). I often add extra veggies to it and I always eat it over rice.
Iris, have you considered being a foster "parent" for a dog so that you could enjoy a dog sooner, help out a shelter and not have to move the dog across the country? Yes, it can be tough giving up the dog, but as long as you tell yourself it's a temporary situation, it can be rewarding--and its really needed.
Kudos on not eating the pie, Pat! I wasn't happy with the pie I made (used different apples) so I threw the remainder in the garbage anyway. We rent a condo when we go to Hawaii, and it does cut down on the eating out a lot. Which island are you going to?
Michele, were you swamped? I'm going to have to check around and see what's up with the new WW plan. Still have my lifetime card, but I haven't gone to a meeting in years. Still below my goal weight, though.
Dagmar, I originally read your sentence about Solo as "we" started running and barking. How uninhibited of you! I guess the yelling part is the human equivalent of barking. It's fun to see the senior dogs running around having fun.
Shannon, having cavities filled (plus crowns and root canals) are something I dread. Hopefully the numbness went away pretty soon. The drooling that accompanies the numbness is most annoying!
Paperclippy, yum!
Debi, is FoCo Fort Collins? That's so funny! When I lived in Colorado (FoCo, too), I laughed at SoDo, but now everyone does that. In Boise, we have BoDo. My favorite part of living in Colorado was going to the park, especially during elk bugling season. We used to pick up the kids right after school and head on up the canyon to the park. The only bighorns I've seen were my first time up Big Thompson Canyon. Memories. . .
Woke up to 8" of snow this morning so I cancelled my personal training session and let my DH have the car. Hoping that driving gets better so I can make my 1:30 pm massage. I'm pretty much of a wimp when it comes to driving in the snow, even after living in Colorado. I am bummed that the paper didn't make it this morning--guess the paper deliverer heeded the warning about not driving if you don't have to.
I think what I heard on the news about the new WW system is that all fruits and vegetables have zero points, or something like that. Which is strange. I read an article the other day that compared maintainers on two diets--one high protein and low glycemic veggies and the other lower in protein and high in glycemic veggies and fruits. The high protein ended up maintaining easier, the other group gained weight. I'll see if I can find the article. But OTOH, it is good to promote fruits and veggies!
I STILL have pie left over. I wonder if we'll eat it though. It's been sitting there untouched for two days. My parents ate pie every morning for breakfast with their melon! LOL
I want to retire! I want to spend my days lounging on a beach in some faraway locale. Oh, the dreams!!!
Allison - you just have to get old enough or rich enough! I highly recommend it though. I have no desire to go back to work!
Sheila - we'll be on the Kona side of the Big Island. I'm really looking forward to it, esp this morning when it's -6F (-21C for our Canadian friends). We had about 6" of snow last week, but it's off the roads now so driving is back to winter normal.
Intersting about the high protein/low GI diet. This is similar to what the program I did last year had us on. We were to eat lean protein at every meal/snack, along with veggies, fruit a couple times a day, and grains/carbs ideally only after exercise, otherwise 1x/day.
Dagmar - I can picture you and the dog running and making noise. Brings a smile to my face.
I miraculously made it through Atlanta yesterday before the 125 min. flight delays that occurred later in the day, ran errands while I was in the city including healthy grocery shopping, got home, back to work and the gym today. A dog-sit that was supposed to start tomorrow ended up starting today, so I've been a little hectic with that but I figure the walking counts towards my cardio!
And I got my first CSA delivery today! I got potatoes, kale, corn (who knew it was in season?), and an absolutely enormous bunch of greens including mustard, turnip with the roots, and I think some chard. Like I think it weighed at least 10 lbs. Does anyone have any good greens recipes for the mustard & turnip greens? I'm brewing beer with friends tomorrow and since we're making dinner I'm going to try this recipe. I cleaned maybe 2/3 of the batch, which took about 2 hours, and plan to make a double batch with as many will fit in the pot and maybe give leftovers away. I'll still have some left, mostly turnip greens... any ideas? I knew the CSA was all about eating in season and figured I'd get some greens, but this is sort of ridiculous!
Hopefully personals tomorrow, it is way way past my bed time. Hi everybody!
Sheila and others interested-- the new WW includes "free" fruits and most vegetables are free-- starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn, etc. are not free. The program focuses on low fat, low carbs, fiber and higher protein. I've been on it for a couple of months and love it.
And yes, we were swamped again last night.
By the way-- my dh's Brazil trip is back on-- they decided it was safe enough now-- grrr.....
Our kitty is back and boy is he chatty . I think the tumour isn't quite gone yet and his thyroid is still a bit overactive. And is he eating! I wish I could snack like that. I'm free feeding him for the moment as he's fashion model thin.
Mudpie is not amused. She is stealing his food (while hers is out), sulking, and I found a little gift in my slipper this morning (she's never, ever done this before). Good thing I asked for new slippers for Christmas.
And I think the new puppy is flying in from Alberta this weekend. I hope she remembers to tell me about it (this client is a little ). I think she said I start to walk him in January. I'll have to ask her to get him a coat!
I have a doctor's appoinment for Saturday. Thank goodness for Imodium - I'm working my way through the extra large box. You'd think I'd at least lose some water weight with all this !
Dagmar~I'm glad the kitty is home, but sorry about the "present." We've been dealing with presents from Buddy for the past few months. We warned our house guests of the possibility and thankfully he didn't leave any while they were here, but as soon as they left, he went right back to it. Although his is due to age--not spite. So, question for you on food. I kind of free feed Ringo his dry food (I leave about 1/4 cup for him in the morning and check it at dinner and add another 1/4 cup as needed). He get a tablespoon of canned food twice a day. Yesterday, I filled his dry food 3 times! And it was empty again this morning. I can't determine if he's on a growth spurt or just hungry. Is this normal do you think?
Bill~that is a ridiculous tax on the dog owners and walkers! Although I don't take my dogs to the dog parks much (prefer to walk in my neighborhood instead) I would definitely boycott dog parks if we had to pay for the use.
Megan and Shannon~were either of you near the horrible storms yesterday? Yikes.
Yesterday there was a big-rig crash on I-10 at about noon. Apparently the rig was blocking all four lanes, and because the both the driver was killed (it was a one-vehicle crash) and the load (fertilizer) spread all over the highway and required hazmat cleanup, the road was blocked for over 7 hours. What a mess. They couldn't even get one lane open for those 7 hours. You can imagine the traffic! Thankfully I don't need to travel that unless we're going out of town, but at least one of my friends was stuck in the mess for over 5 hours. She was about 15 minutes behind the crash, but it took over 5 hours to get that far by using only the emergency lanes. And one employee lives that direction. I think he opted to stay with his son last night instead of sleeping in his truck on the freeway.
We have gas heat, but of course the thermostat/computer regulation is electric! And with this wind we can't use our wood stove without smoking up the house. Thankfully it was back on this morning. 
We've rented a 2 bedroom house, and have another couple joining us for about 1/3 of the time. They'll have their own car so while we'll do some things together, we're not committed to spending all our time together. 
Yes, she's from China and they did a great job - still issues, but she's a great kid.
. I think the tumour isn't quite gone yet and his thyroid is still a bit overactive. And is he 
eating! I wish I could snack like that. I'm free feeding him for the moment as he's fashion model thin.
is not amused. She is stealing his food (while hers is out), sulking, and I found a little gift 
in my slipper this morning (she's never, ever done this before). Good thing I asked for new slippers for Christmas.
is flying in from Alberta this weekend. I hope she remembers to tell me about it (this client is a little 
but 
